After Magnus specified exactly what kind of space he needed, Eveline didn't waste any time. She immediately started going over the details of the library's layout in her mind, mumbling to herself, "There should be a place that meets those requirements in the northern region of the library. I may have to move a few things. Including the time it will take to carve out the counter-spell and anti-surveillance runes, along with setting up the modified spatial stitching to connect it to your dorm room... It'll probably take until tomorrow morning at the latest."
"Huh? Really that fast?" Magnus asked, looking a bit shocked. Eveline, still a bit absentminded, nodded in response.
"It's all basic warding magic; even an Adept-level mage is capable of it. The only real issue is that I'll have to link these to the core of the library so they don't detiorate. Plus, I'll have to reinforce their magic formations so that they can't be directly bypassed by other mages. Though then again, it might be easier to just add a safety check that detects mana-signatures... Wait, no, you don't have mana." Once again, Eveline started talking to herself, waving her hand as a book lying on a far-off bookshelf suddenly shot out of its place and flew into her hand.
Opening it, she started reading to herself, and it was only after another ten minutes or so had passed that Magnus felt the need to remind Eveline of his existence.
"So... I appreciate the help, Eveline, but can you send me back now? It's late, and I want to make sure I at least get six hours of sleep before the next round of the Live Examination tomorrow." Not even acknowledging Magnus's existence, Eveline waved her hand again, causing space to distort as a door materialized itself out of thin air directly in front of Magnus.
Huh, you know, I never thought of it before, but the way she summons these doors... I wonder if I could replicate it with the Command Console. It does look like they're just being created out of nothing after all. Well, whatever, I'll have plenty of time to test it out tomorrow.
It was late, and after everything that had happened today, Magnus wanted nothing else but to take a bath, pop on his pajamas, and fall asleep on his bed. So, stepping forward and opening the door that had appeared in front of him, he stepped through and found himself inside his dorm room, as if he had just walked through the front door.
Man, if I could really manage to summon doors like her, that would be so useful.
As Magnus pondered, he noticed Celia still peacefully asleep on the couch. The contrast between Eveline, with her borderline psychotic demeanor just moments ago, and the curled-up, tranquil Celia struck him as remarkably odd, considering how similar the two of them were in some ways.
Both had an increadible thirst for knowledge and curiosity for seeing new things, and somehow Eveline, just like Celia, was going to be acting as an assistant to his future experiments.
"I guess that's just how some people are," Magnus muttered to himself as he headed to the bathroom, preparing for a relaxing bath after undressing. Stepping into the warm water, he felt tension melting away—his first true relaxation since the Live Examination had begun.
The comfort was so soothing that he nearly dozed off, only leaving the bath when the water cooled. After changing into pajamas and tidying up, Magnus dried his hair and glanced at Celia, still deep in sleep. Turning to the window, he saw the night had fully settled, with only the moon and a few luminous crystal lamps illuminating the darkened academy grounds.
It's already so late. The academy won't let students or servants leave the ground at a time like this. I guess that means Celia's sleeping here tonight.
Surprisingly, this was a first for Celia, who was usually meticulous about keeping track of time, a skill essential in her role as a maid. However, after watching today's matches, experiencing a panic attack, and dealing with the situation involving Blair, Magnus wasn't surprised; everything had taken its toll on her, and she had been gently lulled into a deep sleep.
Resting his chin on his hand, Magnus sighed softly.
Well, I guess I can't just leave her sleeping on the couch all night.
He approached Celia cautiously, lifting her with care to avoid waking her too much. Midway through lifting her, Celia's eyes fluttered open slightly as she groaned.
"Hmm... Magnus?" Her voice was groggy as she spoke.
"You can go back to sleep; I'm just moving you to the bed," Magnus reassured her. Celia nodded drowsily, closing her eyes and slipping back into slumber. Thanks to the unintentional physical training from his use of the Command Console, Magnus was surprisingly fit, though his physique didn't quite show it. He could probably lift two people around heavier than Celia with ease if he really needed to.
Gently laying her on the left side of the bed, Magnus settled down on the right and quickly fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Time passed swiftly as he drifted off, and soon the next day arrived with a gentle morning breeze drifting through Magnus's open windows, brushing against Celia's face.
The cool touch of the morning air gradually roused her, accompanied by a sense of disorientation. Whether it was the clothes she wore or the softness of the bed beneath her, everything felt unfamiliar.
"Hmm?" Slowly opening her eyes, the world came into focus, revealing a familiar face. Celia's eyes widened as she realized who exactly that face belonged to and, more importantly, that she was practically lying halfway on top of him.
It took a moment for her mind to register before she swiftly sat up and out of bed, relief washing over her as she glanced at Magnus and herself.
I'm still in my uniform... Oh right, I fell asleep on the couch last night, didn't I? I must've been completely out of it to sleep through the entire night.
As she calmed down, she thought back. She vaguely remembered Magnus moving her to the bed before drifting back to sleep, and considering where they were sleeping, she guessed she must have unconsciously latched onto him while asleep.
Touching her face, she muttered, "Ugh, how embarrassing. If Tola ever finds out about this, she'll never let me live it down... Actually, Magnus might not either. Maybe I should just leave now and spare myself the embarrassment while I can."
Thinking about it for a moment, she felt like that was actually a pretty good idea. Pretend it didn't happen, act normal the next time they saw each other, and hopefully the awkward memory will fade away.
Yeah, that seems like the best option.
Nodding to herself in agreement, Celia swiftly straightened her disheveled clothes after all the tossing and turning. As she made her way to the door, a thought struck her—she needed to avoid being seen leaving Magnus's floor so early. The last thing she wanted was to act as fuel for any more rumors.
It doesn't really matter what people think of me, considering the rumors all the maids have already conjured up about me, but I can't ruin Magnus's image, not here in the academy of all places.
So with that in mind, Celia planned to open the door cautiously, peering out to avoid detection. But just as she touched the doorknob and began to turn it slowly, the door swung open abruptly, and she stumbled forward, feeling a sudden shift in gravity that sent her tumbling to the ground.
She landed with a jolt, clutching her face in pain, the impact reverberating through her body. As she lay there, she heard a distant voice that gradually grew closer.
"Oh Magnus, you woke up a lot sooner than I thought you would. I had only finished doing the spatial stitching so that this place is connected to your room, but it still needs tweaking, and the gravity trans-" The voice began, then abruptly stopped as Celia looked up to see a strangely tall woman standing over her, her piercing blue eyes seeming to scrutinize every inch of her.
Startled, Celia let out a scream that echoed through the library, reaching Magnus's room and rousing him from sleep.
In a panic, Celia scrambled to her feet and demanded, "Who- Who are you!? Where am I!?"
Eveline didn't immediately respond, studying Celia for a moment before a smile slowly cracked its way across her face.
"Oh... I know you, your Magnus's little maid, Celia, right? I've observed you both during your experiments. Quite bright for someone without any formal education. I wonder if-" Eveline paused, catching herself.
"Oh, right, first, introductions. My name is Eveline." At the mention of her name, Celia's expression flickered with shock.
Eveline? Like that woman Magnus met in the library, Eveline?
As Celia replayed Magnus's story in her mind, she glanced around and saw shelves overflowing with books where they stood. Seeing recognition on Celia's face, Eveline's grin widened.
"I see you know who I am. Magnus told you, I presume?" Getting a bit of a sense of where she was and who she was talking to, Celia relaxed a bit and nodded slowly.
"I see. Well, you need not fear; me and Magnus have formed a contract; I'm not allowed to harm him or the people around him, which would include you. Though this is a surprise, you usually arrive at his dorm room a little later than this, and if you made it here then that means..." Eveline seemed to piece something together as a short laugh left her lips.
"I see... I was wondering why he turned my offer down, but it would make sense if he had you." Celia was still a bit confused, but seeing that Eveline had come to the wrong conclusion, Celia tried to correct her.
"Wait, me and Magnus don't-" Just then, Magnus's voice came from behind Celia.
"Celia, there you are. I heard you scream, so I... Oh, that explains it." He woke up surprised by Celia's scream, and even more so by Eveline's library being connected to his dorm room's front door, which was still open after Celia walked through. But, after seeing Eveline near Celia, he understood the reason for the scream. After a brief silence, they all exchanged looks before Magnus sighed.
"Alright... I definitely wasn't prepared for this when I woke up." Still in his pajamas, Magnus hurried back to his room, bringing Celia with him to sort out the situation.
"First thing's first, Celia, what were you doing there? Did you wake up before me or something?" Magnus asked, speaking to Celia through the bathroom door as he was getting dressed.
"Uh... Yeah, I did. I didn't want to disturb you, so..." Her words trailed off as she responded from her sitting position on the other side of the bathroom door, unable to bring up the real reason all of this had happened in the first place. As for Magnus, he really wouldn't have thought much of it in the first place. Back when he and Wendy used to hang out, she fell asleep over his house all the time, so he had gotten used to sharing a bed.
In the end, Celia heard another sigh from Magnus as she heard that he had finished getting dressed and stood up from her sitting position, which was blocking the door.
"Well, whatever I was going to show you eventually, I guess it doesn't matter." Hearing that, Celia looked a bit puzzled as to what Magnus meant, which he tried to explain.
"Uh... It's a bit of a long story, but basically, I made a contract, slash, deal with Eveline. Part of it is that she can't do anything to harm me without harming herself, and the other half is that she prepared a special place for me, which is that place you ended up landing in," Magnus explained, to which Celia slowly nodded.
"I see. Well, that explains... some of it. But why do you need this place?" She asked, making Magnus pause before answering.
"Well, I guess since we're both fully awake now and the area is already pretty much done, how about I just show you instead of trying to explain it?" Walking over to a slightly hidden location behind his desk, Magnus pulled out the Knockout Brick before gesturing for Celia to follow him back into the area Eveline had prepared.
After Celia's little trip, she had fully fixed the gravity transitioning, so the two of them made it back without any issues as the door closed behind them. Knowing they were hidden from any prying ears or eyes, Magnus took a deep breath before saying it outright.
"To be brief, I'm planning on conducting an experiment, or at least attempting to conduct one. I'm not sure if it'll actually work or not, but to put it simply, I'm trying to see if I can manipulate time, or, to be more precise, my own future."